A study of guitar history and literature from the Renaissance to the present which will include such topics as; notation, performance practices, instrumental development and social contexts.

Detailed description of Content of Courses

The purposes of this course in priority order of emphasis is to:

1. Develop literacy and competency with regard to the body of literature for the guitar, vihuela and lute.
2. Instill an understanding of the relationship of the music and techniques for fretted instruments to the larger musical environment.

MUSC 421

1. Examination of the earliest publications for lute, vihuela and guitar.
2. Tablatures and mensural notational systems will be learned. Students will gain proficiency in transcription from Italian, French, German and Spanish tablatures.
3. Repertory from the Renaissance, four-course guitar through the Baroque guitar will be examined in detail.
4. Composer-Performers and their lives will be studied and close scrutiny will be given to the social context in which their work was conducted.
5. Organological change and its impact on musical style and performance practice will be studied in a comparative manner.

MUSC 422

1. Examination of nineteenth and twentieth-century literature for the modern guitar.
2. Organological development and its impact on musical style and performance practice.
3. Repertory from the nineteenth and twentieth-centuries will be thoroughly examined and analyzed.
4. Performers and composers who have impacted on the guitar and its literature will be discussed and studied in a comparative manner to those of previous centuries.
5. New techniques and new notational systems will be learned with concomitant competencies in their performance.

Detailed description of Conduct on Course

The course will include techniques of both traditional instruction and new technology including: lecture and demonstration. Students will learn the use of authoring technology with regard to their own oral presentations. Students will analyze, discuss and write on selected topics pertaining to repertoire, important figures, trends and concepts which figure in the development of the instrument and its repertoire. Moreover, students will learn to interpret and transcribe tablature from earlier periods as a tool for assessing modern editions as well as creating their own editions. Trends in new instruments and their techniques will be studied.

Goals and Objectives of the Course

The student will attain competency with regard to the impact of the guitar on larger musical trends, enabling them to have a global sense of their place within the larger musical environment. Students will also gain a sense of style with regard to the special techniques which are unique to the instrument. The student will be armed with the knowledge of their repertoire, so that they can more effectively select materials suitable in their teaching, performing, and musical therapeutic use. Graduate students will pursue a more advanced and specialized study of selected works from the repertoire and will require a least one more paper and/or oral presentation.

Assessment Objectives

Assessment will be made by way of written exams, listening exams, oral presentations, and one or two brief papers on specific topics.